Biodiversity International Journal Short Communication Open Access Rare colour aberration in the short-tailed fruit bats (carollia perspicillata) Abstract Volume 2 Issue 1 - 2018 We presented a new report of one species of albino short-tailed fruit bats Carollia Alexis Calderón-Álvarez R,1 Anatoly Marin- perspicillata, from Villanueva Casanare, Colombia. These samples represented the 2 first time this kind of atypical phenomenon has been recorded on Colombia. These Vasquez 1Fundación para la Investigación en Biodiversidad Amazonica - specimens differ from other individuals due to the irregular distribution of melanin FIBA, Colombia pigments in their ventral and dorsal hair. Only two specimens of C. perspicillata 2University of Applied and Environmental Sciences UDCA, albinos have been previously registered in Brazil. Colombia Keywords: albino, carollinae, colombia Correspondence: Anatoly Marin-Vasquez, MSc Ciencias Ambientales, University of Applied and Environmental Sciences UDCA, DC Ara Corporation of the Amazon - ARACORP, Bogotá, Colombia, Email [email protected] Received: November 15, 2017 | Published: February 07, 2018 Introduction despite the permanent field presence and weekly visits to the large Short-Tailed Fruit Bats colonies by wardens of the municipality over The occurrence of aberrant colorations such as melanism, leucism many years (scientific staff, government service for rural development 1 or albinism is rare in bats. In bats, mainly melanism or leucism pers. comm.). This is the first case reported for Colombia and third 1−17 18 (also described as isabellinism) have been reported. Albinism, of South America;1,16,17 our observations involved adult individuals. a complete loss of all pigment in coat and other body parts, is the Juveniles albinos have not been reported for the species, nor is there most severe aberration in coloration patterns. It results with white any mention of albinism in the Short-Tailed Fruit Bats in the literature, 18,19 coat colour and lack of pigment in soft parts and is very rarely suggesting that this trait is very uncommon. The rarity of albinism 1 recorded in natural populations. Here, we report the first observation may result from a higher mortality rate from predators and difficulty of an albino Short-Tailed Fruit Bats Carollia perspicillata from in obtaining a mate.1,19 Furthermore, albino individuals can be difficult Colombia. Carollia perspicillata is distributed from Colombia to detect due to very large size of the colonies (Figure 2). eastward across northern South America, including Trinidad and Tobago, and southward into Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and northern Argentina. The species also is known from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, southward throughout Central America.20 Our observations were made on Villanueva Casanare (4°36’11,30’’N, 72°55’43,65’’E) (Figure 1), a small population located 129,84km off the Bogotá Colombia, during fieldwork on bats between 10 and 20 August 2013. Short-Tailed Fruit Bats were breeding in large colonies on the municipality (an estimated 30-50 breeding pairs, scientific staff, government service for rural development pers. comm.) rearing small to large juveniles and adults specimens. While we were on the municipality, we viewed and photographed colonies of Short-Tailed Fruit Bats twice a day from a fixed point (lighthouse), to avoid disturbing them. The albino individual was noticed while checking breeding colonies with binoculars and photographed. Its coat color was pure white, without any pigmentation (Figure 2). The skin, ears, nose leaf, and eyes lacked any pigmentation, resulting in a pink colour. The individual was an adult, with sibling and parents presenting the classical coat color of the species. The individual seemed in good condition. We observed Figure 1The black point represents the locality of study Short-Tailed Fruit the regular behavior of the population followed by food, and did not Bats Carollia perspicillata from Colombia. note any apparent conflict between this albino individual and its con Among Phyllostominae and Molossidae, albinism has been specifics. reported for the species: Artibeus planirostris, C. perspicillata, To our knowledge, our observation represents the first reported case Dermanura cinerea, Desmodus rotundus, Glossophaga longirostris, of albinism (pure albinos sensu18) for this species from Colombia,1 Sturnira erythromos, Uroderma bilobatum, Eumops glaucinus, and Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Biodiversity Int J. 2018;2(1):64‒65 64 © 2018 Calderón-Álvarez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Copyright: Rare colour aberration in the short-tailed fruit bats (carollia perspicillata) ©2018 Calderón-Álvarez et al. 65 Molossus molossus.1,2,4−8,16,17,21 According Marin-Vasquez et al.10 some 5. Sodré MM, Uieda W, Baldim M. First record of albinism in the bat Eu- of these reports represent cases of leucism or these authors used mops glaucinus (Molossidae) from Southeastern Brazil. Chiroptera Neo- leucism as a synonym for partial albinism of C. perspicillata: Brazil,15 tropical. 2004;10(1−2):200−201. 9 3 Ecuador, Frech Guiana. 6. Geiger D, Pacheco SM. Record of partial albinism in Nyctinomops lati- caudatus (E. Geoffroy, 1805) (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in southern Bra- zil. Chiroptera Neotropical. 2006;12(1):250−254. 7. Oliveira HFM, Aguiar LMS. A new case of complete albinism in bat from Brazil. Chiroptera Neotropical. 2008;14(2):421−423. 8. Roncancio N, Ramírez-Chaves HE. Registration of leucism in Sturnira erythromos in the central Andes of Colombia. Chiroptera Neotropical. 2008;14(2):412−414. 9. Boada C, Tirira D. First record of partial albinism (leucism) in Carol- lia perspicillata (Phyllostomidae) in Ecuador. Chiroptera Neotropical. 2010;16(2):755−757. 10. Marin-Vasquez A, Ortega-Rincón M, Ramírez-Chaves HE. Records of leucism in three species of Colombian bats: Carollia brevicauda, Arti- beus jamaicensis and Lophostoma silvicolum (Phyllostomidae). Chirop- Figure 2 General view of a small part of the colony of Short-Tailed Fruit Bats tera Neotropical 2010;16(2):706−709. Carollia perspicillata with the albino on Villanueva, and Close-up of the albino Short-Tailed Fruit Bats. 11. Miranda JMD, Kaku-Oliveira NY, Munster LC, et al. First data of a reproductive colony of Myotis levis (I. Geoffroy, 1824) in the fields Conclusion of Palmas, Paraná, Brazil (Vespertilionidae). Chiroptera Neotropical 2010;16(2):762−768. The cause of variation in the incidence of albinism among families is unknown but “it … appears to be in species that are both social in 12. Idoeta FM, de Santis LJM, Barquez RM. Leucism in Eptesicus furi- 13,19,21 nalis (d’Orbigny and Gervais, 1847) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) their breeding habits and also fairly sedentary”, conditions that in the province of Corrientes, Argentina. Chiroptera Neotropical. increase the chances of mating between individuals heterozygous for 2011;17(2):985−988. albinism. Uieda1 noted that albinism is seldom found in bats roosting in unsheltered places. This might imply that the survival rate of albino 13. Sánchez-Hernández C, Rojas-Martínez A, López-Vidal JC, et al. Leu- bats in sheltered roosts. Albinism is known to have a genetic basis, cism in five species of bats from Mexico. Chiroptera Neotropical. 2012;18(2):1123−1127. and others factors such as diet or trauma are of minor significance.19 A more plausible explanation is that both parents possessed an albino 14. Marin-Vasquez A, González-Ibarra I, Gualy L, et al. Aberrations in coat allele, as hereditary albinism is generally a recessive character. color pattern of colombian bats: isabelline, leucism and melanocytes nevus. Journal Online BioScence and Informatics. 2013;4(3):253−265. Acknowledgements 15. Rocha AP, Feijó JA, Ramos Donato C, et al. Partial albinism (Leu- We thank Government Service for Rural Development for giving cism) in Seba’s short-tailed bat, Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758), from a rock shelter in northeastern Brazil. Chiroptera Neotropical. us permission to work on Villanueva. We thank two anonymous 2013;19(1):1151−1153. referees for useful suggestions to improve the manuscript. Anatoly were supported by Bureau Agriculture of Caqueta, and Misión Verde 16. Falcão FC. 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